Abortion statistics for England and Wales: see the latest breakdown

The latest abortion statistics show huge variation in rates across England and Wales. Find out what the figures say
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The operating theatre of the BPAS Abortion Clinic in Streatham. Pictured are the Abortion Register, the Anesthetic machine and an ultrasound scanner. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian
Sarah Lee/Guardian

Abortions are down to 196,082 carried out in 2011, The figures provide a fascinating insight into women's lives across the two countries - and for those who come here to have the procedure.

The figures from the Department of Health show abortion rates and numbers across every imaginable demographic, by age, ethnicity, reason and region.

They show, for instance that under half of abortions (49%) were to women with partners while 26% were to single women and 16% of abortions occurred within marriage. The numbers of abortions to girls under 16 are down too, 3,258 in 2011, down from 3,718 the previous year.

The vast majority of abortions take place in the very early stages of pregnancy (79% took place before 10 weeks gestation) with only one in ten taking place over 13 weeks gestation.

Brent in London has the highest rate - 39.4 women per 1,000 had an abortion there.

An interesting under-detail, not often reported, is how many women have to travel to England or Wales for abortions. In 2011, 6,151 women came here, the biggest number, 4,149, from Ireland, followed closely by Northern Ireland - where abortion is tightly restricted. There are also 102 women from the UAE.

We've extracted the separate Scottish stats below, although these are published in a different way to the rest of Britain - you can download them from the spreadsheet too.